


let's not and say we did

by iimpavid



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Aftercare, Established Relationship, Face Slapping, Fluff, Kink Negotiation, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Non-Sexual Kink, Praise Kink, This is mostly dialogue y’all, in which the author’s true kink is communication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-10-22 01:34:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17653514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iimpavid/pseuds/iimpavid
Summary: The one where Juno Steel discovers his face-slapping kink.





	let's not and say we did

**Author's Note:**

> exactly what it says on the tin. unbeta'd. very soft.

The vast majority of Juno’s better ideas ended in bed but he was less sure of this one.

He and Peter sat cross-legged on Juno’s bed because they’d planned to last week after Juno lost spectacularly at a game of _let’s not talk about it and say we did._

In hindsight, he should have expected Peter’s response to demanding, “Did I stutter? I want you to hit me,” to require conversation in the afterglow. Peter Nureyev, king of pillow talk, was incapable of enjoying the afterglow in silence.

“If I were to hit you, how would you want me to? Context is king but I really didn’t enjoy play fighting for your friend Cecil’s cameramen.”

Juno rolled his eyes. “No. Not like hit-hit. Don’t punch me or anything, I don’t wanna fight you—and if I get another concussion Rita’s gonna kill me and I’m pretty sure my ribs are just held together with hope and duct tape. No but — y’know, I get hit a lot but nobody’s ever actually slapped me before.”

“No?”

“Nah, mom was the chuck stuff at your head type. I honed my reflexes young.”

“I’m sure you did.” Peter looked uncertain.

Juno sighed, “Okay, so forget I even bought up my mom. What I’m saying is, I want you to slap me.”

“Across the face?”

“Yeah, if I wanted you to spank me I’d’ve said that. Which. No, don’t. Ever do that. I would never be able to take you seriously again.”

“You take me seriously? That’s a high compliment, Juno.”

“So, like, will you do it? I mean, would you want to?”

Peter cocked his head and thought about it. “I’m not opposed, I think it could be fun. Do you consider it foreplay? It’s own isolated experience? Some kind of punishment? Both?”

“You can’t make anything simple, can you?”

“Yes, I guess I could. But consider a scenario where you say, “slap me” and I might hear, “backhand me until I feel like my teeth are loose while you’re fucking me and call me a treacherous slut.”

Juno pulled a face, “Oh my god— I don’t— don’t do that.”

“I wouldn’t! Ever. But do you understand my point? I’m not a mind reader, Juno. I have to ask questions.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.” He blew out a breath. “Don’t insult me, I’m not into that. And absolutely nothing violent enough to screw up my teeth, oh my god,” he added, just to make it explicit. He shook off the mental image Peter had conjured and tried to refocus. “Look, I dunno, it feels kind of like its own thing, now that I’m thinking about it. Like, I want you to slap me but I dunno if it’d be good foreplay. And like the whole spanking thing— I punish myself up enough already about literally everything,” he admitted, feeling too vulnerable in saying it out loud. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing here— can’t you just slap me around and tell me everything’s gonna be okay?”

“Yes, Juno, I can do that— and more to the point, I would like to. Once, anyway. Who knows? We might find it utterly boring or objectionable in the extreme.”

“Yeah, there’s always that. Are we supposed to establish a safe word or something at this point?” He asked, thinking back over a lifetime of internet access and ill-advised trysts, “I kind of feel like if I tell you to stop I just … want you to stop.”

“I would like to keep your boundaries front and center— anything less than an enthusiastic “yes, please,” would make me… uncomfortable. I want you to enjoy yourself while I’m hurting you.”

Juno shivered. “That makes two of us.”

And so here they found themselves. Sat across from each other feeling a little awkward about the whole situation.

At least,  _Juno_ felt awkward. Peter looked like a kid on Christmaseen, drowning in free candy and getting ready to go knock down mailboxes with a baseball bat. It was unnerving to be looked at like that. He never wanted it to stop.

“Alright, let’s see how this works for you.”

Peter raised his hands to cradle Juno’s face— Juno flinched at the movement but Peter just held him.

“I’m so glad, Juno, that you actually asked me for something you wanted,” he said, stroking his thumbs over Juno’s cheekbones. Peter didn’t let him turn away even though he could feel himself blushing beneath those cool hands. “You can have anything you want, you see that now, don’t you? It’s much easier than being stubborn.”

Quick as a flash Peter’s left hand drew back and cracked across Juno’s cheek— held firmly in place by Peter’s off hand.

Juno gasped. Shocked at something he’d known was coming. In his lap his hands clenched but he stopped himself from moving them.

“Juno, look at me.” He sounded careful. Intense. Like he was defusing a bomb.

When Juno finally opened his eyes, bright blue and wide, the relief on Peter’s face was almost funny. He asked, “And how was that?”

Juno’s jaw worked. The initial sting had worn off. Now he just felt like his whole face was on fire. “I, uh,” he cleared it throat, “— good?”

“Good?”

“Yeah? I kinda.” He tried to clear his throat again and couldn’t seem to manage it. “I kinda wanna cry? I don’t— I have no idea why, I’m fine— but it’s. No, it’s good. Will you do it again?” He offered Peter a smile.

“Peter stroked over his cheek. His fingers were so cool.

“Do you really mean that or are you just trying to weasel your way out of talking about how you’re feeling?”

“Both?”

Peter’s sigh was exasperated and adoring. “You’re impossible. Incorrigible. What am I going to do with you?”

Just as Juno found his bearings, ready to shoot back a snarky, “Hit me,” Peter slapped him again.

And this time he meant it. The impact radiated through his cheek. He felt numbness for just a moment— that burst into heavy heat.

“I’m sorry, Juno, what was that?” His playful tone was almost mean.

But Juno found himself relaxing from the reflexive flinch that’d followed the blow. Peter’s right hand was still so sure and gentle, keeping him firmly in place. He made eye contact because he was a fast learner. Peter smiled. Sharp teeth and relentless affection. Juno was about to nod in encouragement, had his mouth open to ask Peter please hit me again — and he made the mistake of paying more attention to Peter’s eyes than his hand.

The crack of Peter’s palm against his cheek made his ears ring.

He kept his eyes screwed shut. If he opened them he was going to lose it completely.

The whole right side of his face throbbed. The inside of his cheek would feel raw where it’d cut against his cheek for days, he just knew it.

“Juno,” Peter said his name softly, “You need to look at me. Open your eyes.”

He felt hot all over. A furious blush that crept down his shoulders to his elbows.

Peter traced his fingertips over Juno’s aching cheek, feather-light and a hairsbreadth away from feeling knife-sharp. Juno opened his eyes and found his vision swimming. He blinked and a few tears fell and his breath shuddered. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, clumsy with the feeling of everything. Peter’s hands stayed light on his face the whole time.

“And what did you think of that?”

Juno watched Peter watching him, so intent and patient, and without looking away for a second, he wrapped his fingers around Peter’s left wrist and kissed his palm.

“It’s a lot,” he said, surprised at the hoarseness of his own voice. “I, uh, I think I’m done for now. If that’s— is that okay?”

“Of course, Juno.”

“You could be meaner next time, if you wanted,” he added, rushed.

Peter smiled and leaned in to kiss him. “I’ll workshop my dialogue and see what I can come up with.”

“You’d better.”

He sat back. “Do you think I hit you too hard? Can you even tell yet?”

Juno scrubbed his hands over his face. “No, that was good.” He opened his mouth, stretched his jaw. He’d be feeling those tender places on the inside of his cheek for a while. “Yeah, that was good,” he repeated, “It felt… way worse when you were doing it.”

“Wonderful. I want to get some ice on it anyway. Just in case.” And as Juno opened his mouth to protest, he amended, “I don’t think I burst and blood vessels but if Rita even thinks I’ve bruised you, no one will ever find my body.”

Juno’s eyes widened. “Oh, shit, you’re right.”

It was a mad dash from Juno’s bedroom to the kitchen. Peter wrapped a bag of frozen corn in a soft dish towel— the corn was a sentry of Juno’s freezer that existed for this one purpose and had served loyally for years— and pressed it to Juno’s cheek.

“I can do this myself.” He blushed all over again, pulling at his t-shirt collar and trying to back away despite the countertop keeping him in place.

“Indulge me,” Peter said. “Taking care of you makes me feel less like a monster for hitting you.”

Vehement, Juno argued, “You’re not a monster—“

“Thank you for telling me to. And thank you for asking me to hit you.” Peter’s tone was unflinchingly tender. “I’m proud of you.”

“I literally asked you to slap me around and that makes you proud?”

“You work so hard to be selfless— it’s important that you take some things for yourself once in a while. Even if that means asking your boyfriend to hurt you for your mutual enjoyment once in a while.”

Some day Juno was going to stop blushing. Now would be great. Then he could stop worrying about melting his hand bag of frozen corn into mush with nothing but the heat generated by his own shy delight. “Yeah, well,” he couldn’t think up anything witty to reply with. “What about you? Was I— was it good?”

“It was very good— and so were you. I’m looking forward to “next time” already.”

“Yup, there it is, that devious and scheming look that’s so familiar.”

“Juno, you wound me with your accusations!” Peter paused, his smile broad and full of those sharp, sharp teeth, “You say that like you’re not going to be involved in the scheming at all… but you know better than that.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> listen I'm not saying this is How Kink Works. make sure you always talk about intimate shenanigans with your partner(s) okay?
> 
> also make sure you comment because writing this was like pulling teeth and I thrive on external validation


End file.
